A lot of people like to rag on this cartoon because it's a "cheater"; that is, it extensively reuses footage from old cartoons. Heck, even Ken Harris allegedly wasn't too proud of his efforts in his only directing job. But I think "Hare-Abian Nights" gets too much hate.
For one thing, there's a good plot here to wrap around the old stories. A ruthless sultan wants to be entertained. Numerous victims (including an Elvis expy) have already been fed to the crocodile pits due to his unreasonably high demands for entertainment. So along comes Bugs Bunny, who tells the sultan some stories from his earlier adventures.
Things are going swimmingly (and by "swimmingly", I mean "Bugs isn't killed") until he tells a story from "Sahara Hare", co-starring Yosemite Sam. After much laughter at Sam's expense, it's revealed who the sultan is: Yosemite Sam! This is a wonderful directorial choice, to not reveal the sultan until the very end. Before that, we only got to see his arm push the trap door button, and we never heard him speak. It made him all the more threatening.
You might ask, "Wouldn't Bugs know that the person he's telling the story to is Yosemite Sam? Isn't making fun of him basically suicide?" That's what makes the final clip great; Bugs obviously knew. It's not unlike Bugs to razz his adversaries. And this is further cemented by the fact that Bugs is one step ahead of Sam after the final story, disabling Sam's trap door, and re-activating it right when Sam is stomping on the door, causing Sam to get bit on the butt by the crocs. Great ending, and only helped by Bugs's witty one-liner: "Not a bad act, but... don't call us, we'll call you. And I can think of a few things I'd like to call him."
I won't lie and say this is one of the best Looney Tunes cartoons (precisely because half of it is recycled), but the old clips are entertaining, and so is the new stuff. And the new footage is nicely animated (most of it by veteran Ben Washam).
For one thing, there's a good plot here to wrap around the old stories. A ruthless sultan wants to be entertained. Numerous victims (including an Elvis expy) have already been fed to the crocodile pits due to his unreasonably high demands for entertainment. So along comes Bugs Bunny, who tells the sultan some stories from his earlier adventures.
Things are going swimmingly (and by "swimmingly", I mean "Bugs isn't killed") until he tells a story from "Sahara Hare", co-starring Yosemite Sam. After much laughter at Sam's expense, it's revealed who the sultan is: Yosemite Sam! This is a wonderful directorial choice, to not reveal the sultan until the very end. Before that, we only got to see his arm push the trap door button, and we never heard him speak. It made him all the more threatening.
You might ask, "Wouldn't Bugs know that the person he's telling the story to is Yosemite Sam? Isn't making fun of him basically suicide?" That's what makes the final clip great; Bugs obviously knew. It's not unlike Bugs to razz his adversaries. And this is further cemented by the fact that Bugs is one step ahead of Sam after the final story, disabling Sam's trap door, and re-activating it right when Sam is stomping on the door, causing Sam to get bit on the butt by the crocs. Great ending, and only helped by Bugs's witty one-liner: "Not a bad act, but... don't call us, we'll call you. And I can think of a few things I'd like to call him."
I won't lie and say this is one of the best Looney Tunes cartoons (precisely because half of it is recycled), but the old clips are entertaining, and so is the new stuff. And the new footage is nicely animated (most of it by veteran Ben Washam).
